Some 20 people cleared out nearly 20 pounds of pills from their medicine cabinets during the Halifax County Sheriff's Office Operation Medicine Drop campaign Sunday in Roanoke Rapids.

There will be another opportunity for county residents to discard their expired or unused medications April 4 at the Historic Courthouse in Halifax April 4 from 9 a.m. to noon, Lieutenant Anzell Harris said.

The Weldon Police Department will have one today from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the town hall on Washington Avenue.

Harris said the Sunday medicine drop, held at Rose's off Julian R. Allsbrook Highway, saw residents bring pills, ointments, liquid medication, suppositories and animal medication to be safely discarded.

Specifically, he said, there were 16,154 pills weighing 19 pounds, 11 ounces collected.

The haul included 1,215 controlled painkillers, ranging from Hydrocodone to morphine. “We really wanted to get those,” Harris said, as they are some of the most over-abused drugs in the county.

There were 11,642 prescription medications discarded; 3,238 over the counter medications; 38 veterinary medications and 21 unknown substances abandoned.

“The Halifax County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the management team at Rose's and the citizens for their support during the medicine drop,” Harris said.